Roman Docks Museum

This museum dedicated to ancient maritime trade is located in the heart of an exceptional archaeological site: you will discover a vast port warehouse from the Roman era where wine was stored in huge jars.

The Roman Docks Museum, located at 10 place Vivaux in the 2nd arrondissement of Marseille, presents in situ the remains of one of the rare Roman commercial warehouses known in the world. These remains are classified as historical monuments by decree of October 22, 19591.

Origin of the museum

In 1947, during the reconstruction work of the Old Port districts destroyed in 1943 by dynamiting by the German occupiers, Roman docks were discovered which are one of the rare Roman commercial warehouses in dolia known in the world. There are similar constructions in Ostia, at the mouth of the Tiber, which was the port of Rome. Thanks to the intervention of Fernand Benoit, a renowned historian and archaeologist, part of these remains were able to be preserved on site. Opened in 1963 and renovated in 1987, the museum presents around thirty dolia or large jars from the Roman period. Inside the dolia park, you can spot walls and wells of medieval dwellings.